Naming Ceremony for BU’s Duan Center for Computing & Data Sciences

The Duan family, which includes the parent of a BU alum, has given a gift to name the University’s Duan Family Center for Computing & Data Sciences and endow fellowships for distinguished Center faculty and PhD candidates. The gift will also seed research initiatives, especially by early-career Center investigators. “It is a privilege of a lifetime for me to stand up here…as we celebrate the dream coming true,” Azer Bestavros, a William Fairfield Warren Professor and associate provost for computing and data sciences, said at a ceremony December 5 announcing the naming and the inaugural Duan Fellows, Wesley Wildman and Mark Crovella. Wildman also has an appointment at the School of Theology and Crovella at the College of Arts & Sciences. Also speaking were BU Trustee Rebecca Norlander (CAS’91) and Gloria Waters, BU’s provost and chief academic officer. Attending the ceremony: Kenneth Freeman, former president ad interim (from left), Stan Sclaroff, dean of Arts & Sciences, President Emeritus Robert Brown, Rebecca Norlander, Trustees Chair Amas Fakahany (Questrom’79), Trustee Alicia Mullen (CAS’83), President Melissa Gilliam, Gloria Waters, and Azer Bestavros. Photo by Eric Haynes